“A Public Place Should Be for Both Roma and Non-Roma”:The Function and Use of Public Places from an Ethnic Perspective

Abstract

This text is an analysis of the ways public spaces in a neighborhood of one Moravian city in the Czech Republic are used. The estate’s urban layout reflects the needs and lifestyles of the region’s residents at the time it was built in the 1950s. Research conducted revealed clearly formulated preferences for the possible revitalization of the area. The ethnically and socially heterogeneous residents cannot, however, agree on the purposes the space should serve and for whose benefit. The research indicates a tension between the non-Roma residents and the Roma community, which affects both groups’ ideas for its revitalization. Analysis of their oftentimes conflicting expectations, and the consequences of social exclusion, all of which break down along ethnic lines, is the focus of this study. The mixed-method research combined a quantitative and a qualitative approach.